THE TEMPEST. Director: Sylvaine Strike. Cast: Antoinette Kellerman, Albert Pretorius, Jane de Wet, Daniel Lasker and Jefferson Lane. Maynardville Open Air Theatre.
BEVERLEY BROMMERT reviews
With her signature blend of mischief and insightful creativity, director Sylvaine Strike offers audiences an original take on this late masterpiece of Shakespeare’s oeuvre.
Visually arresting as the combined skills of Niall Griffin (set and costume design) and Oliver Hauser (lighting design) exploit all the potential of Maynardville ‘s natural beauty, this production captures the ambience of a remote island where anything is possible. And David Classen’s sound effects for the eponymous tempest are suitably unnerving.
Three athletic Spirits in earthy, rough-textured garb appear throughout, airborne occasionally on ropes which evoke the lianas of a tropical forest, underscoring the exoticism of this fictitious island.
Strike unabashedly brings comedy and fantasy to the fore, a refreshing change from the clichéd emphasis on “noble” themes of revenge mellowing into forgiveness, liberation from servitude, and reconciliation through love. These are indeed part of the play’s narrative fabric, but they tend to distract one from the fact that this is after all a COMEDY.
Darker elements are neither trivialised nor negated, they are simply there as necessary to the genesis and progress of the plot, which is itself a pretext for amusing the audience.
Earthy Elizabethan humour
Thus suspended credulity has to rule in witnessing the antics of Caliban, the surliness of Ariel, whirlwind courtship of Miranda and Ferdinand, and unedifying power-struggles common to plot and sub-plot, all presented with the earthiness of Elizabethan humour.
Presiding over it all is Prospera, whose metamorphosis into a female affords a different optic on human relationships.
What makes this production extraordinary is the eclipse of main protagonists in the light of captivating performances from secondary personae.
Despite her imposing stage presence and a poise born of long experience, Antoinette Kellerman somehow falls short of conviction as Prospera, not wholly at ease in the role. The passionate romance between Jane de Wet (Miranda) and Jefferson Lan (Ferdinand) is equally underwhelming, being short on hormones; though physically charming and fluent in their delivery, they share as much chemistry as a butcher and a vegetarian.
Among the secondary characters, however, there is little to fault. Daniel Lasker’s Ariel is a cool creature of gleaming detachment, even when entreating his mistress for freedom – a reminder that he is not human, but a creature of the spirit world.
Enjoy the present …
Albert Pretorius is beyond grotesque as the reviled Caliban, not projecting any real sense of latent evil, nor of profound suffering (the latter would have elevated his role to the realm of tragedy). Instead, he has a dogged playfulness in tune with the consistent comedy pervading this Tempest.
As for the clownish duo of David Viviers (Antonio/Stephano) and Tankiso Mamabolo (Sebastian/Trinculo), their gusto in alternating different roles injects potent vis comica into the action, stopping just before it outstays its welcome. They switch personae with an ease matching that of the slight costume changes accompanying their transformation, and their stamina is impressive.
The result of broad comedy married to whimsical fantasy is pure entertainment, reminding the audience (should its members care to do so) that we are, indeed, such stuff as dreams are made of…so we may as well enjoy a present that could evanesce in the blink of an eye. Like Ariel.
What: The Tempest
Where and when: Maynardville Open Air Theatre until 8 March 2025
Tickets: Quicket
WS
